Daniel Aaron Lazar » USH: Introductory Materials

Mike Huckabee Fixes American History

Dan Lazar — Fri, 20 May 2011 10:07:17 +0000

Don’t worry, American youth: Mike Huckabee has fixed American history. No longer will you suffer under what Huckabee calls “the ‘blame America first’ attitude prevalent in today’s teaching.”

Late Wednesday, Huckabee announced LearnOurHistory.com, a sort of BMG Music Club for what he calls “unbiased” historical lessons for kids. For around $15 each, the company will send you a new animated tale of American history each month, told through the eyes of a gang of time traveling kids.

Paranoid Style of American Politics

Dan Lazar — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:04:19 +0000

In this essay, originally published in Harper’s in 1964, Pulitzer-Prize winning historian Richard Hofstadter offers an astute thematic analysis of paranoia in American politics. He examines the paranoid reactions to Masons, Catholics, Jesuits, Communists and others. Sadly, perhaps his perceptions are as timely as ever.

Video: Townhall with Howard Zinn

Dan Lazar — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 06:00:57 +0000

Howard Zinn discusses his classic book A People’s History of the United States. James R. Green, Professor of History at UMass, Boston, moderates.

Could Texas’ Gingrich-Based High School History Curriculum Go National?

Dan Lazar — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 07:29:59 +0000

The GOP-controlled State Board of Education is working on a new set of statewide textbook standards for, among other subjects, U.S. History Studies Since Reconstruction. And it turns out what the board decides may end up having implications far beyond the Lone Star State.

The first draft of the standards, released at the end of July, is a doozy. It lays out a kind of Human Events version of U.S. history.

Approved textbooks, the standards say, must teach the Texan student to “identify significant conservative advocacy organizations and individuals, such as Newt Gingrich, Phyllis Schlafly, and the Moral Majority.” No analogous liberal figures or groups are required, prompting protests from some legislators and committee members. (Read an excerpt here.)

Read on…

Kropotkin Essay

Dan Lazar — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 07:48:37 +0000

“Ask yourself what you need to know to make this the kind of world you would like to live in. Demand that your teachers teach you that.”

The assignment

Reading and Learning Strategies

Dan Lazar — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 18:12:50 +0000

How to Study

SQ3R Reading Strategy

CLUES Model to Thinking Critically. This Rocks!

Several Note Taking Strategies

Notes on Quality Presentations

Multiple Intelligences

Thinking Like A Genius

Teaching Against Idiocy

Dan Lazar — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 18:54:41 +0000

Contemplating the root of the word “idiocy” leads Dr. Walter
Parker to explore the challenge that democratic societies
face of developing public-minded citizens. The schools,
he argues, are the most likely institutions to succeed in
that task.

The Article

The Response Sheet